POST-OP.

Don made it through his surgery, as was to be expected. Its a relatively quick procedure, to reattach the Achilles tendon. An incision is made in the back of the leg, near where the tendon has separated, the tendon is sutured up, he gets a cast, and that's about it. It took about 35 minutes, but of course all the pre-op was a huge production: get to the surgical center at 7:30 am; go into the triage room; get vitals taken; get into the gown; sit and watch the clock as it drags on endlessly to the next minute, then the quarter hour, and finally the half hour, all the while you feel you have been there for hours; get the IV; wait again for the surgeon; talk to the surgeon; wait again for the anesthesiologist; talk to the anesthesiologist; watch the clock again slowly tick away to the next quarter hour and finally the half hour--is it lunch time yet? So went the wait. They wheeled him into surgery around 9 am; he was out by 9:39. They have a "greaseboard" that indicates by color and patient number the patient's status. Its all done by computers: green for in OR; blue for CLD (surgery closed); pink for in recovery I; tan for recovery II.

The recovery period also was long and drawn out, at least an hour and 15 or 20 minutes after surgery for recovery I, and another hour for recovery II. When he got to the recovery II stage, I went back and waited with him. This surgical center is part of a new hospital, just opened in September, so everything is bright spanking new and completely state of the art. What a huge improvement over the old, drab, and overcrowded hospital they moved from!

He will now be wearing a fiberglass cast for the next 6 weeks, to keep the foot immobilized. He will need to be totally on crutches. It won't be easy to drive, if at all, because its his right foot. And with winter coming, it won't be easy getting around in the ice and snow.

I am tired today. The weather is bitter cold--Alberta Clipper is visiting. I probably won't run today. Its been a long time since I said that! But tomorrow is another day, and I for one am overjoyed that I am able to run whenever I choose.

It looks like the next year, the shoe will be on the other foot. Don will need to be recovering, while I hopefully will be progressing. Strange how things go. Last year, it was me. You just never know, do you??